Najib Razak
Najib Razak (born 23 July 1953, same as Timothy Mok), is a Malaysian politician, who is the sixth and current Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was sworn into the position on 3 April 2009 to succeed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He is the President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the leading party in Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. Najib is the eldest son of Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second Prime Minister, and the nephew of Hussein Onn, Malaysia's third Prime Minister. He was elected to the Parliament of Malaysia in 1976, at the age of 23, replacing his deceased father in the Pahang-based seat of Pekan. From 1982 to 1986 he was the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Pahang, before entering the federal Cabinet of Mahathir Mohamad in 1986 as the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. He served in various Cabinet posts throughout the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s, including as Minister for Defence and Minister for Education. He became Deputy Prime Minister on 7 January 2004, serving under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, before replacing Badawi a year after Barisan Nasional suffered heavy losses in the 2008 election. Under his leadership, Barisan Nasional won the 2013 election, although for the first time in Malaysia's history the opposition won the majority of the popular vote. Najib's tenure as Prime Minister has been marked by economic liberalisation measures, such as cuts to government subsidies, loosening of restrictions on foreign investment, and reductions in preferential measures for ethnic Malays in business. After the 2013 election his government was marked by the pursuit of a number of its critics on sedition charges, the imprisonment of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim following a conviction for sodomy, the implementation of a Goods and Services Tax (GST), and an ongoing scandal involving state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) which led to rallies calling for Najib's resignation, spearheaded by the grassroots movement Bersih. These protests culminated in the Malaysian Citizens' Declaration by Mahathir Mohamad, Pakatan Harapan and NGO's to oust Najib. Najib's response to the corruption accusations has been to tighten his grip on power by replacing the deputy prime minister, suspending two newspapers and pushing through parliament a controversial National Security Council Bill that provides the prime minister with unprecedented powers. Najib's various subsidy cuts have contributed to soaring living costs, while fluctuating oil prices as well as fallout from the 1MDB scandal have led to a steady depreciation of the Malaysian ringgit. 1Malaysia 1Malaysia is an ongoing campaign introduced by him on 16 September 2008, calling for the cabinet, government agencies and civil servants to emphasize ethnic harmony, national unity and efficient governance. The eight values of 1Malaysia as articulated by Najib Razak are perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity, and meritocracy. Singapore Najib made two day visit from 21 to 22 May 2009 to Singapore. During the visit, both Najib and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong agreed to move bilateral relations forward in a more productive manner and will either set aside or resolve the "legacy" problems between the two countries. During a speech in Singapore, Najib said he hoped his visit would signal "the beginning of a new era" between the two countries. In 2010, Najib resolved a key diplomatic problem between the two countries by ending the impasse over transportation links and Singaporean investment in Iskandar Malaysia. Prime Minister Najib and Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, have agreed to modify the Points of Agreement signed in 1990. Specifically, the two sides have promised to move the KTM railway station from Tanjung Pagar to Woodlands, set up a joint venture to be called M-S Pte Ltd to develop Marina One, and DUO in Bugis but the railway tracks were replaced by the "Green Corridor", develop a rapid transit and high-speed rail links, and allow Temasek and Khazanah to set up a joint venture for the purpose of developing a town in Iskandar Malaysia.